Rat Rod Rescue

I've been wanting to build a Rat Rod for some time, and have been keeping an eye out for something suitable for a low budget bulid. Australia doesn't have as many cool old cars like the USA so I would have to settle for something not so cool. So I wanted something with 2 doors chrome bumpers and rear-wheel drive. An old Toyota pickup/ Hilux came up at a junkyard I had to have it.

I finally got my Hilux its only 2 months late, the wrecker I bought it from had a problem getting it out as his forklift kept getting stuck in in the mud. So I had to wait until things dried out.

It has a couple of things missing, two doors the ignition barrel, the carburettor, and the front bumper.

My long term plan is to convert it to a short wheelbase and put another engine in it. It has an 18r and I would like the twin-cam 18rg but they are as rare as rocking horse sh!t, my next choice would be a 4age, but they are also getting hard to come by.

My 3rd choice would be a 7afe, mostly because they are plenty of them around, they are cheap and light, less than 120kgs

I've done a few engine swaps, and I'm looking to remove weight more than adding power, if anyone wants to know why I'm not going down the big engine path.

All I've done so far is pressure wash the hell out of it and cut and
polished a few panels, I'm not going to paint it, I want it to look old and well used but looked after, so ill get everything as shiny as I can even the rust.

Here are some photos, the hood and fenders came up well with 1200 sand
paper and a buff, paint that rubbed trough is the look I'm going for.

The lines on the tub are approximately how much it going to be shortened

I did a bit more over the last few days, the engine was missing the carb, and I didn't want to spend any money on an engine of unknown condition. I found a free carb off a Mazda or ford 626, so I made a carb spacer with a 3d printer and some gaskets with a laser cutter. The engine now runs but idles a little rough, I'll go over it and check the valve clearances, point, plugs and leads.

Now just got to fix the clutch cylinders and ill be able to move it around the yard.

The 3d printer carb block is not a long-term fix, I fully expect it to fall to bits it will just be used to get the Hilux moving, No road trips.

I've also come across another engine, a 3sge, out of an MR2 which I can get cheap. Again not my first choice, but probably easier to fit, as the Toyota Y engine gearbox fits on the engine.

It would have to have the distributor and in the back of the engine removed and replaced with a coil on plug arrangement.

Well, that sucks! got the engine running, bleed the clutch and brakes, as both went to the floor, now both pedals feel like they work. Put it into gear and I get nothing.

The clutch is likely burnt out, or maybe the gearbox is broken, anyway, more work and I'll still have to push it around.

Finally got some time to get back to the Hilux, It hasn't rained here for months and as soon as I start so does the rain!
Anyways pulled the tub off and every nut and bolt wanted to pick a fight, so it took a lot longer than I hoped. I've pulled off the exhaust, fuel tank, driveshaft, wiring, brake lines and cables. I also cut off 2 of the brackets that hold the tub down. Also gave it a clean with a pressure washer as there is nearly 40 years crud to remove. So it's already for marking out and cutting. The wheelbase will be 215mm shorter to make it the same as a factory short wheelbase which we don't get in Australia.

No rust holes so far, and I'm still looking for a couple of doors. I keep screw up the photos on this site, hopefully, it makes sense

Did a bit more on the Hilux today, cut 215mm out of the chassis and fitted it back together again. Spent a fair amount of time marking and checking everything, and then went nuts with the grinder.

I found a small farm inside the chassis rails which had to be excavated, and after much fiddling, and checking its all ready to be welded. I've got a friend who is a welder, so it shouldn't break, fingers crossed.

The inside of the frame was reinforced with 3mm flat and tech screwed in to place while the final measurements were taken and tack welded together. A friend who is a welder did the final weld, and the tech screws removed and the hole plug welded.

I got to do a little more on the hilux today. I cut the front of the tub down 215mm, and it went reasonably smoothly. I left an extra 20mm to fold over so I can spot weld the front back in. I made a buck with a bit of particleboard and it folded over no problems at all.

I put the tub back on the frame just to check for fit, and so far so good. For the amount I cut out of it the result is not really noticeable unless you look at the before photos.

Once I get the front of the tub welded back in, I'll cut another piece out of the rear of the tub. That will be the challenging cut to get right, I'm still not sure how I'm going to do it.

The front panels had all the spot welds removed and the prepared to be welded back in, it all went very smoothly and came together, without any issues.

I got to do a bit more work on the Hilux, I cut a 185mm strip out of the bum, here are some photos. it all went well apart from the floor which I messed up somehow, next up welding it back together. I should have never marked out the floor with the blue tape, its a bit gappy in places, I may have to cut another 10mm out of it, to fix the gaps

It makes the truck look much smaller, cant wait to put some fat wheels on and lower it.

A friend turned up with some 16" AU falcon wheels, which are a really good offset for the Hilux and don't stick out to far. The price was right ... free! even better. I lowered the front a couple of inches, the back needs to come down at least 3 inches. I'll clean them up and paint them at some stage. I also go an email from a guy with some doors, so looks like it's all coming together.

Did a little more work on "shorty" I managed to drop the rear around 2-3 inches by shorting the shackles and putting 1" lowering blocks under the axle. Its made the truck sit much more level. Also, my doors arrived, though it was a buy the doors get the truck free deal if anyone in north Victoria wants some parts...

So did a little more work on shorty, fitted the doors, although they will come off again when I get some yellow paint.
I went to replace the turn signal/ wipers switches and found they were different. The white Hilux is an 83 the yellow an 80. The wiring plug is quite different. so I cut it off and soldered the old plug on. 3 feet of solder and a foot of heat shrink later it looks like it will work. Thankfully they used the same colour wires for everything so it wasn't too hard to change the plug.

I was able to do a bit more work on shorty today. I replace the seats with some late 90s Hilux seats, unfortunately, they are not a bolt in, and I had to remove the mounts from the old seats and fabricate parts as the mounting points are quite a bit wider on the new seats.

Next, I stripped the dash and cleaned everything and the speedo and removed the dash pad and replaced it. I'm waiting for some carpet to arrive and the inside should be a bit more presentable.

I've done a bit more, welded the tub back together and shorten the drive
shaft, park brake cables and exhaust. Also fixed up a couple of dents in the tub and removed the strips. We have had a heatwave and the temps been about 50C degrees that's 122F and it's even hotter in the shed so I'm not doing much more until it cools down a bit. Bloody stupid Aussie weather, fine one day on fire the next. Just got to fix the clutch which is gearbox out and find somewhere for the gas tank to fit, and it should be good to go.

As you can see the clutch had a small problem. The back of the tub is almost finished, some progress photos above

Here are some more pics, I've welded the bum back on, and replace the clutch. Replace the headlights with LEDs and they have the indicators and park lights inside. Painted the grill and headlight surrounds, seatbelts temporary fuel tank and lots of little jobs and it can now be driven. Goes quite well considering its an 18r engine from the wrecker. I've got to paint the ugly doors and find a bumper.

Keeping with my low budget, I decided rather than buy a new carby that I would fuel inject the engine. Sounds wrong but a good Weber carb is around $500, I can inject it way cheaper. So far I found a centre point throttle body off a ford falcon which almost bolts straight on the Toyota manifold, a little filing and a custom gasket and it will be done. I got a couple of water temp sensors from a commodore (V6 GM) and to my surprise when a pulled the smog crap off they screwed straight in. One will be used for an air temp sensor. I built a Megasquirt ECU years ago for a friend and he no longer wants it,

So far the parts have been scrounged and the total cost so far is $0

Just got to find a fuel pump, O2 sensor and bung, and convert the dizzy to electronic. A bit of wiring and fuel lines, and it should be good to go.

I got anO2 sensor off a ford falcon and the bung for the exhaust for free and got that fitted, so just got to pick up the ECU and start wiring.

So started making the wiring loom for the Megasquirt ECU and I had to spend some money on the plug $10, and some wire, $10. The heat skrink I had in the shed all shrunk, (did I mention it gets bloody hot here) so I had to buy some more $13 for a box full. I might do some more when it cools down, its around 40C or 104 F and even hotter in my shed, Im not liking this long hot summer at all ...

So After much mucking around with a new USB to serial adaptor, drivers,
settings, and swearing the ECU is now talking to the laptop. So a bit more wiring, fuel lines and pump it should be good to fire up.

Shortys Alive! After fitting the throttle body and finishing the wiring she fired up first try. I had to adjust the idle, but man does the engine run sweet. It was idling at 400rpm, so I bumped it up a little. I haven't driven on the road yet as I run out of wire for the fuel pump so the tank is on the ground at the moment, as soon as that's fixed it ill be time for tuning. I can already tell it going to go a heap better than the carb set up.

If you want to replace your carb I can recommend the EA falcon throttle body they pretty much bolt straight on, a couple of custom gaskets a bit of filing on the Toyota base isolator and a couple of washers and your done

Took shorty up the road, even without a proper tune it goes way better.
It now has a fantastic intake noise when you floor it, and easily pulls a burnout in my shed. Just need someone to go for a drive while I turn it on the laptop or find a dyno.

Oh, I also better replace the points with an electronic ignition before I get to far...

I put in the electronic ignition, and I got a mate to drive while I made some adjustments to the fuel map, turns out it was running very lean, so it now goes better than ever. The oil light came on, but it turns out it was only the pressure switch crapped itself. I've got a small coolant leak from the heater tap to fix, and oil leak from the front crank seal. The fuel lines need tidying up and I'm going to remove the old fuel pump off the engine.

I'm sure there's more to do, the engine and suspension need a good clean.

I replaced the front crank seal, but it turns out it wasn't really leaking that bad, the front timing cover has a crack in it. Looks like the chain has rubbed from the inside or something has been crashing around in there. It's a bit strange as there is no timing chain rattle or other strange noises, so I cleaned it up and put JB weld over the crack. Seems to have fixed the problem.

I don't really want to spend to much time or money on the engine, as I would like to replace it with something a bit more modern. The head-on an 18 r is truly horrible, pre crossflow, intake and exhaust bolted together, cast iron, 2 timing chains, that said it goes really well, the fuel injection has brought it to life.

The inside of the tub was wire wheeled and give a coat of epoxy clear coat and I finally found a front bumper and fitted it to the vehicle

I've replaced the shocks, and I'm trying out these wheels I got for free, I don't really like the look of them, but they are very lightweight and fit great.

Just been driving around doing a bit of turning on the ECU. The engine goes like a rocket, very easy to smoke the tires at the lights, and soo much fun in the wet.

The Hilux has been to a couple of car shows and it gets a bit of attention, as the shortening and lowering makes it look quite different from the standard Hilux we get in Australia. Most car nuts think its an old Datsun but have to look again when they see Toyota on the tailgate.

The project is great fun, and I still have plans to paint to doors, and the chassis put some carpet in, and maybe replace the engine with something a bit more modern.